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25
ADDIE
Iput a hand to my throbbing chest. The handprint—well, it was more like finger-shaped holes left from where Vince drove his hand into his victims—ached and brought on a new level of fatigue. There hadn’t been time to tend to them yet. I’d been able to ignore the gouges in my skin while arguing with Hel because my anger had trumped every other sensation.
Now that I stared down the possibility of entering the afterlife, the state of my body caught up to me. The searing pain in my chest spread into an ache that consumed my whole body. There was no stopping now, though. I couldn’t call it quits just because I hurt a little.
Well, more than a little…
I pushed through the pain trying to lock my body into place and sent my arcana out towards the veil. The separation between the worlds rippled at the impact. For a moment, I thought I’d failed. I feared the worst, that I would have to die in order to reach Maddox.
Bracing myself, I accepted my fate. I would do anything to get him back, because there was no future for me without him.
Then, my arcana split the veil and created an opening for me. I gasped and surged forward. Behind me, Hel grumbled. She didn’t issue a warning or yell for me to stop. The only sound she made was one of begrudging pride. It brought a small smile to my lips as I reached into the world beyond.
A cold, tingling sensation crept up my fingers and along my arm. Then…feeling in my arm disappeared altogether. My stomach dropped. There was no telling what would happen if I stepped into the world beyond. Hel had brought me there before, but I’d gone in as a soul and nothing more.
While I welcomed the relief from the pain in my body, I knew it wasn’t a good thing. Was I really alive if I couldn’t feel it? The afterlife didn’t like living things. It would devour me whole just to rid itself of me.
I became aware of Hel’s scrutinizing gaze on the back of my neck. She was waiting. I’d realized there was more to this than blindly rushing in. Hel wanted to know if I could figure this out on my own. If I failed, she would go on to harass someone else. The unfeeling goddess wouldn’t save me from my own hubris, so I had to be careful.
I couldn’t save Maddox if I let the afterlife rip me apart.
“Addie.” The whisper of Maddox’s voice reached out to me.
My heart leapt. I leaned into the portal and thought of the man I desperately missed. I recalled his ethereal blond hair and the dark eyes that balanced the bright visage. I remembered the feeling of his broad chest under my palms. He’d been real and solid and warm.
Just like the hand in mine.
Eyes wide, I closed my fingers around the hand in mine and pulled. There was a bit of resistance at first, like Maddox wasn’t ready. I wrinkled my nose and yanked with all the force I could muster. There was no way in Hell that I was going to allow him to accept his fate.
“You’re mine,” I growled.
I thought, for a moment, that I could hear his laughter on this side of the portal. A pair of invisible hands wrapped around my arm and helped pull. The presence felt like the same one that’d pulled me out of the void when I’d fallen in limbo. I sucked in a new breath and dug in my heels.
“Come back to me, Maddox,” I whispered under my breath.
I saw his hair first. It was a pale halo around his head as he came tumbling out of the portal. I shouted in triumph as we crashed to the floor together. I didn’t see the other person. A chorus of shouts surrounded us.
Maddox tensed atop me. His head snapped to the side as he braced for a fight. I grabbed his forearms and let my arcana slide into him.
Claws scrabbled against the floor. Hel cursed in another language—I could tell it was a curse from the exasperated tone she used. Ryder jumped towards the white blur that raced for the door.
I’d done exactly what Hel warned me not to do. Maddox exhaled and hung his head in shame.
“I’m so sorry. I tried to take him down with me. The two of us should have stayed in that void.” The words he didn’t say still hung in the air.
You should have left us there.
There was no ignoring that unspoken sentence. It grasped my heart and refused to let go. I’d been selfish. If I hadn’t been so rash, then this wouldn’t have happened.
I clenched my jaw and cupped the sides of Maddox’s face. We were allowed to be selfish. That was fine. We could make up for the rest along the way so long as we had each other.
That’s not what his expression said, though. He was growing weary. I could see the doubt sucking the life out of his eyes. It propelled me forward. Without thinking, I lifted myself and captured his lips with my own.
Maddox growled into my mouth and pressed me into the floor. The weight of his body anchored me. Sensation blossomed in my core and washed over the pain that had consumed me earlier. When Maddox’s tongue parted my lips and delved deep inside me, I couldn’t help but groan and wrap my arms around his neck to keep him tight to me.
“Disgusting,” Hel said.
